Federal Trade Commission v. Charles F. Monahan

BREYER, Circuit Judge.

In August 1985, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) told the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Pharmacy (“the Board”) that it would investigate three Board rules to see whether these rules unreasonably restrained competition and hurt consumers. The first rule essentially prohibited advertising in which one pharmacist claimed superiority to (or disparaged) another; the second rule prohibited mail order pharmacies; and the third rule prevented pharmacies from establishing “branch offices” or “pick-up stations”, say, at work places, where patients could drop off, and…